Federal and state agents have arrested 83 people for growing more than $1.2 billion worth of marijuana in an ongoing crackdown on illegal pot gardens in California's Sierra Nevada range.

Local officials said several Mexican marijuana-growing cartels helped set up the grow sites scattered throughout rocky mountainsides of eastern Fresno County, and warned more arrests were likely as the sweep continues.

More than 318,000 marijuana plants were destroyed in the operation, which also netted nearly $41,000 in cash, 25 weapons and two vehicles, Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims said Thursday.

While -7bama murders the auto industry, banking industry, insurance industry, energy sector, and now trying to have his way with the health care sector, here is one area which should be taken down. Perhaps evidence of trying to destroy everything, and not pick-n-choosing...

I'm heartened by these arrests. Our western wilderness (particularly in the Sierras and certain coast ranges) are being overrun by these gangsters. It's becoming very dangerous to set foot in many of our wild places because of their remote pot farms and their paranoia in protecting them.

They're human vermin, and they need to be removed and eradicated.

11
posted on 07/23/2009 6:01:43 PM PDT
by Flycatcher
(God speaks to us, through the supernal lightness of birds, in a special type of poetry.)

The grow operation is similar to others found over the past several years in eastern Oregon, and was located in rugged terrain in the Snake River area. This is the second large grow operation found in Baker County this year.

The grow yielded marijuana plants 4 to 6 feet in height. Detectives estimate that if the plants were left undetected and allowed to grow to full maturity they would have yielded about two pounds per plant. Estimated value of the marijuana would be $2,000 to $3,500 per pound.

The two men taken into custody were identified as Jose Piedad Gamino-Villa, 28, and Humberto Gamino-Villa, 32, both from Mexico. They were booked in the Baker County Jail for unlawful possession, delivery and manufacturing of marijuana.

[snip]”We believe these were both planted by members of Mexican drug cartels,’’ Duby said. “They find good sources of water and set up drip irrigation systems.”

Duby said the plants were scattered over remote, rugged terrain on about three to five acres of land on terraced hillsides. Typically, law enforcement officials spot the grow operations from the air.

The men arrested were identified as 28-year-old Jose Piedad Gamino Villa, and Humbert Gamino Villa, 32, both from Mexico. They were booked into the Baker County Jail for possession, delivery and manufacturing marijuana.

In this case, I disagree. Anything that kicks the Mexican drug cartels in the groin and makes it harder for them to do business in the US is a good thing. However, what many people are too short-sighted or brainwashed to realize is that if we legalized marijuana in CA, the cartels immediately lose millions per year in revenue since anybody could grow a couple of plants in their backyard or closet if they wanted it. The criminalization of a particular plant is what makes this market so lucrative for the cartels.

"You can imagine looking from a helicopter down onto a forest, there are a lot of different shades of green. It took some specially trained personnel to spot where the marijuana was growing," Mims said. "We found it planted on hillsides and gullies, and some of the plants had grown to be eight feet tall."

"I'm heartened by these arrests. Our western wilderness (particularly in the Sierras and certain coast ranges) are being overrun by these gangsters. It's becoming very dangerous to set foot in many of our wild places because of their remote pot farms and their paranoia in protecting them. They're human vermin, and they need to be removed and eradicated. "

Wow. Thanks for the update. My new line of work takes to extremely remote places in the West, and I just hate what these foreign gangsters are attempting to do to our wilderness areas.

In fact, for the next six weeks, I'll be at a wilderness area conducting surveys in southcentral Oregon. Such beautiful country, and it makes my blood boil to hear about these criminal takeovers. I'll have to report back to you when I return.

Thanks, AuntB!

22
posted on 07/23/2009 6:15:36 PM PDT
by Flycatcher
(God speaks to us, through the supernal lightness of birds, in a special type of poetry.)

I love how law enforcement always inflates the value of their seizures. Nobody in their right mind would pay $2000/lb from the manufacturer. More likely would have have sold for 800-1000/lb. I'm not endorsing the practice, mind you. Simply pointing out the disinformation in the article most likely provided by the police to increase the gravitas of their bust. Pot is like any other for-profit enterprise. If you buy in large quantities from the manufacturer, you get substantial discounts. Everybody in the supply chain gets a little markup. No "distributor" is going to pay $125 per ounce for a product that sells on the street for $120 per ounce.

24
posted on 07/23/2009 6:21:01 PM PDT
by The_Sword_of_Groo
(Dum spiramus tuebimur - "While We Have Breath, We Will Defend")

“I love how law enforcement always inflates the value of their seizures.”

Kinda like the appraised value of houses before the collapse?

Let’s assume this is all correct, that $1.2 billion was seized. I’m gonna assume that there won’t be any interruption in the supply in any place because of this seizure. Ergo, there must be an almost infinite supply out there, right? That there is no marijuana problem ‘cause everyone has what they want?

This means that all of the high-profile efforts on the stuff have been total failures, and authorities keep trying the same old tactics with the same results.

“Apple has just approved a new application for its must-have mobile device that locates legal marijuana dispensaries in the US for users of medical marijuana. The US$3 download lists the known locations of medical collectives, doctors, clinics and organizations, placing them conveniently on a Google map. When iPhone users are in need of a quick fix, they can activate the app to find the nearest source of legal cannabis.”

Not exactly. The difference being that as it relates to home prices, some people were actually paying waaay too much and driving prices up. Nobody is paying the type prices represented by law-enforcement in that article.

That there is no marijuana problem cause everyone has what they want?

i am not saying there is no marijuana problem. i am saying there is no problem getting marijuana

This means that all of the high-profile efforts on the stuff have been total failures, and authorities keep trying the same old tactics with the same results

To your point, yes. The supply is nearly infinite. it only takes a couple minutes on Google to see the monies spent trying to combat production, prevent importation, etc. Then take a look at any poll of people to see how many either currently or formerly use marijuana. I have seen reports where over 60% say yes, although I think 50% is more realistic. Authorities simply play "whack-a-mole" with suppliers

"How do you expect me to eradicate a weed?" - Harold J. Anslinger , Commissioner of Narcotics in the Bureau of Narcotics, in the Treasury Department - 1937

33
posted on 07/23/2009 8:08:10 PM PDT
by The_Sword_of_Groo
(Dum spiramus tuebimur - "While We Have Breath, We Will Defend")

"It's becoming very dangerous to set foot in many of our wild places because of their remote pot farms and their paranoia in protecting them."

Good call! Especially when you're talking about my back yard!! (so to speak)

Oh... never let an old time english teacher see you call them the "sierras." The name Sierra-Nevada describes a range of mountains and there is only one Sierra-Nevada mountain range, or Sierra, for short.

I know, it's as picky as the San Franciscans insisting you must always call their city by it's full name, rather than just "Frisco," right?

More eye openers on the Mexican/South American invasion of the United States, as if we needed any further examples. This past week we have had occasion to spend a bit of time in the ICU Lounge at one of our major SoCal hospitals--simply mind blowing. On several days, packed wall-to-wall with hispanics, very few of whom spoke any english.

Lets be sure to remember to thank our corrupt Washington elite for their de facto open borders policy, as they continue to dream of replacing all of us pesky American voters with the new dumbed down horde of invaders looking for free everything as promised by our Washington elite.

38
posted on 07/24/2009 10:20:35 AM PDT
by Czar
((Still Fed Up to the Teeth with Washington))

Disclaimer:
Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual
posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its
management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the
exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.